Costa Crociere Foundation Launches Four Community Initiatives

The first four projects financed by Costa Crociere Foundation focusing on social solidarity and marine environmental protection are officially underway.

Approximately 600,000 euros have been allocated to nonprofit organizations selected to develop activities that raise awareness about marine waste and implement training programs for more than 1,500 needy young people, Costa said.

The Costa Crociere Foundation received more than 100 proposals during the project submission period from January 16 to February 15, 2015. Four were selected by the foundation's board of directors and advisory boards. These projects, three involving social issues and one in the field of environmental protection, will run from two to three years and will be implemented in the regions of Liguria, Lazio and Tuscany, Italy.

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The selected social-theme projects involve nonprofit associations working in the regions of Lazio and Liguria:

MaTeChef

Presented by the CIES of Roma, this project is aimed at 60 young people between the ages of 16 and 25, and involves two-year training courses in the culinary sector. Forty of the participants are migrants and refugees from the Centro di Aggregazione Giovanile "MaTeMù." The initiative will lead to the creation of a "Social bistro," whose objective is to improve job opportunities for young people from disadvantaged segments of the population.

Today, Tomorrow, to Nino

Proposed by the Focus-Casa dei Diritti Sociali Association, this program serves 300 disadvantaged children and young people aged 6 to 20 who live in the metropolitan area of Rome. An individual study support program will be created for each participant, and 30 particularly needy and deserving students will receive a small economic contribution to cover some costs, such as books and transportation.

Collavoriamo

Presented by the "Il Laboratorio" Cooperative in Genoa, this project tackles the issue of NEET (Not engaged in Education, Employment or Training) involving young people who have given up on receiving an education or seeking gainful employment. Through training courses combined with two-year intern/apprenticeships, the cooperative is working to support 24 young people 16 to 24 years old who dropped out of the educational system and constitute a disadvantaged segment of the population.

In the environmental sector, Costa Crociere Foundation is working to support activities promoted by Rome-based CIRSPE. The organization's awareness-raising project to reduce marine waste in the central-northern Tyrrhenian Sea will be carried out over three years in the regions of Lazio, Tuscany and Liguria.

The project's aim is to develop a strategy to reduce pollution from marine waste through the involvement of students, institutions, associations and economic operators. The initiative implements two specific operative guidelines: environment-focused education in schools, involving 1,200 middle-school students, and the organization of theme-based informative meetings aimed at different players in the marine sector to promote sustainable management of waste that is polluting coastlines and the sea.